He never mentioned his name, but President Biden lashed into Donald Trump on the anniversary of the insurrection, blaming the former president for the events of January 6th and the lies that led to that day.
In a searing speech, Biden marked the first anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by painting in vivid detail the violence of that day — and, without naming Trump, by squarely blaming the former president for spreading “a web of lies” about the 2020 election.
“One year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked, simply attacked,” Biden said. “The will of the people was under assault. The Constitution, our Constitution, faced the gravest of threats.”
The Washington Post
From the New York Times:
In his most vehement attack on the former president since taking office, Mr. Biden used the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to accuse Mr. Trump of waging an “undemocratic” and “un-American” attack on the legitimacy of the election system, saying he and his allies placed “a dagger at the throat of American democracy.”
“For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,” Mr. Biden said, standing in the same National Statuary Hall where a mob of Trump supporters invaded a year ago. After encouraging the mob, Mr. Biden added, Mr. Trump sat watching in his White House dining room “doing nothing for hours as police were assaulted, lives were at risk, the nation’s Capitol under siege.”
The New York Times
“He’s not just a former president, he’s a defeated former president… “Defeated by 7 million of your votes in a free and fair election.”
President Joe Biden
“Here is the truth: The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election,” Biden said. “He’s done so because he values power over principle … because he sees his own interest as more important than his country’s interest and America’s interest, and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution. He can’t accept he lost.”
President Joe Biden
Here are Biden’s complete remarks, along with those of Vice President Kamala Harris, who spoke before the president via CNBC.
